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Catharsis In The Martian

Decent Essays

“There is something about a catharsis that is very important.” This is a famous quote by Glenn Close, an American actress. In writing the use of catharsis is to make the reader feel different emotions by what the author is writing about. In the book The Martian, the author Andy Weir, uses catharsis to make the audience feel certain ways for Mark Watney, the main character. In the book Watney gets stranded on Mars all by himself. This itself is a problem but as Mark struggles to stay alive he faces many other problems. Weir uses catharsis in many types of conflicts in the story like person vs. nature, person vs. society, person vs. self and person vs. technology. One way the author shows catharsis is through person vs. nature …show more content…

self-conflicts can make more of an impact on the reader because you may be able to relate to the problems better. When Watney is stranded on Mars he is a constant battle for his sanity. In an article about internal and external conflict it states, “Mark is fighting for his sanity (Nabi).” This makes you feel bad for Watney because he has no one to talk to and is always going through obstacle after obstacle. Another way catharsis is shown is through depression. Being all alone somewhere you know hardly anything about can cause depression because you might not know exactly what to do. “Jesus Christ, I’d give anything for a five-minute conversation with anyone. Anyone, anywhere. About anything (Weir).” This shows how depressed Watney is being all alone and some people can relate to feeling all alone or being depressed. Weir also uses isolation as a conflict in the book to make the reader feel bad for Watney. “I never realized how utterly silent Mars is. It’s a desert world with practically no atmosphere to convey sound. I could hear my own heartbeat (Weir).” Watney has been in isolation from so much for so long that it makes you feel bad for him until he starts to think outside the box and starts to create technology that allows him to communicate with

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